1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a structure for removably mounting a support rod for supporting, in an open position, an openable closure member such as engine hood of a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to have a better understanding of the present invention, reference will first be made to FIGS. 1A and 1B of the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an example of the prior-art structure using a support rod 1 such as shown in FIG. 1A. The conventional support rod 1 is constituted by a rod-like metal body having the opposite ends thereof worked to be bent in a hook-like shape and in a crank-like shape as indicated at 1a and 1b respectively. As shown in FIG. 1B, the conventional support rod 1, when used, has the opposite ends 1a and 1b thereof engaged directly with a mounting aperture formed in a reinforcement panel 3 secured to the inside surface of a hood panel 2 and with another mounting aperture formed in a body panel 4 of the motor vehicle, thus supporting the hood at its open position as desired.
However, the aforementioned conventional structure is disadvantageous in that it is required that the end portion 1a of the support rod 1 be worked to be bent in a complicated hook-like shape with a high accuracy to prevent the support rod 1 from being removed from the hood when the latter is blown by a gust. Moreover, in the foregoing prior-art structure, the hook-like end portion 1a of the conventional support rod 1 formed of metal is engaged directly with the mounting aperture formed in the panel 3 as mentioned above, and thus due to the complicated hook-like configuration of the end portion 1a, difficulties are experienced in an attempt to mount the support rod in place. Another important disadvantage is that there has frequently occurred such a situation that scars are made on the panel surface by the end portion 1a of the support rod 1 when the latter is mounted in place, thus causing rust.